On a pleasantly cool morning in early May, more than 100 guests gathered at Hebrew Cemetery for the Second Annual Mishpacha Memories Tour—a moving tribute to the Jewish families whose lives shaped the city's communal and cultural foundation. Created by Hebrew Cemetery director, Sandra Goldman, the program seeks to preserve the voices of those buried at the cemetery, ensuring their stories continue to inspire future generations.
This year's tour honored eight individual lives whose lives embodied resilience, community spirit, and the rich diversity of Charlotte's Jewish history: Bessie and Jacob Rintel, Rosa Drucker, Naum Arbeli, Henry Hirschmann, Sonia Loibl, Berta Kaplan, and Jeffrey Polodny. Their legacies came alive through monologues performed by actors stationed at each gravesite, some dramatic, others humorous, all rooted in historical research and family memories. Performers wore costumes that suited their role, artist portraits painted by the Levine JCC's Department of Art and Culture under the direction of Michelle Kuppers, and Randi Seifinger, coordinator.
Rabbi Judy Schindler led attendees along the cemetery’s winding paths, offering historical and spiritual insights that
wove each personal story into the larger fabric of Jewish life in Charlotte. At each stop, visitors paused to hear tales of immigration and entrepreneurship, education and faith, devotion to synagogue life, and service to both community and country.
Adding a striking visual to the morning, a vintage black horsedrawn hearse, provided by McEwen Funeral Home and Chapel Pineville, circled the grounds. The evocative image served as a poignant reminder of Jewish funeral traditions from a bygone era.
One attendee, Lynne Goldsmith, said, “I found Michpacha Memories to be both engaging and enlightening. As a relative newcomer to Charlotte, I was eager to learn more about the roots of the Jewish community and of the people who made such important contributions. The quality of the acting was just first class! It was a most enjoyable and educational morning“
Mishpacha, Hebrew for “family,” is at the heart of the program’s mission: to honor those who came before us and to build connections across generations. As the tour concluded, the final words rang out among those gathered: “May their memory be a blessing.”
Through storytelling, shared memory, and sacred space, those lives continue to guide the community they helped build — one family, one moment, one memory at a time.